GSOS 1 START THEIR LEAGUE CAMPAIGN WITH A WIN AND A DRAW

The first match featured Thomas as full back, Jos on the left wing, Flo on the right and Kolja, who had picked up a serious foot injury just before the match, upfront. It was a game of two vastly different styles of play: the Germans with a disciplined “breathing” diamond formation, playing skilfully, with patience and confidence. On the other side a BFA Team with a more robust approach, seeking gaps to score from the distance. The triangle Kolja-Jos-Flo worked well together, creating plenty of nice moves in attack, leading to decent scoring opportunities. After eight minutes Kolja’s pass from the right corner found Jos who beautifully backheeled it into the net, 1-0. Shortly thereafter it was again Kolja who delivered the ball into the center, this time to Flo who made no mistake from about eight yards out. We subsequently switched into a more defensive approach which worked just as well. Pressure was soaked up nicely, allowing BFA very few shots on goal, all of which were either blocked by a solid defense wall or thwarted by a an excellent Thomas in goal. With just three minutes from time it was another good combination that led to Flo hitting the inside of the post where, fortunately, Jos was waiting to tap it in for a fully deserved 3-0 win.
The second match resembled the first, at least until the last five minutes, with GSOS, perhaps not quite as dominant as in the first match, yet controlling the game. A fine individual effort by Kolja after an inch perfect pass from Thomas, who had switched positions with Jos, brought the lead after 10 minutes. Just two minutes later Thomas gave it a try from a long distance and the slightly deflected ball went into the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead. BFA were disorganised at this time of the game, leaving big gaps in defense. One of these was used by Flo slotted the ball into the bottom left corner from the right side of the box. Seconds later Kolja picked up a long diagonal ball with his heel and lifted it over the goalkeeper but missed the goal by a whisker. It would have been the goal of the day. Instead of having the game buried GSOS now started to become lackadaisical in the backward movement, not keeping the diamond together, allowing for counter attacks, one of which was converted to make it 3-1. Two minutes to play and, unbelievably, we managed to throw away what looked like a certain win via yet another counter attack and - with the very last action of the match - a scramble in the box we were unable to clear. 3-3 it was in the end, and four points instead of the envisaged six.
Yet, this is a start to be built on with 4 points and 6-3 goals.